When the Lights Go Out
by Calla Mae
Summary: Twenty years after Raylan took his sister and escaped from Harlan they're both coming back, and they find that they'll need each other now more than ever. A story of family and heartbreak, of love and redemption; and the two siblings caught in the middle just trying to survive. OC
1. don't it hurt so bad

Raylan didn't bother knocking before opening the door to the apartment. "Hey," he called shifting the takeout bag to his other hand as he closed the door behind him and threw his keys on the coffee table.

"How'd it go?" a soft voice asked beneath the chinking of plates.

He set the bag beside his keys catching sight of a pamphlet. "'bout how you thought it would," he said holding it up for her to see when she came out of the kitchen with the plates and two beers. "Really, out of all the places you told them to put me in Kentucky?"

She gave him a guilty smile before taking the Kentucky Medical Research pamphlet from him, having spent the past two days looking for where she'd work – naturally she'd picked the facility closest to where Raylan would be working. "You mad?" she asked, looking up at him with sweet eyes.

He looked down at her dark eyes having been about to say yes he most certainly was mad that she'd been the one to suggest his chief look into Kentucky, then he made the mistake of looking at her – she'd always been able to wrap him around her little finger with the widening of her eyes, she had the habit of doing that to nearly everyone she met. "Well I'm not exactly happy," he said sitting on her couch with an arm out for her to sit against him.

The moment she saw he'd given in all pretense of sweetness was gone from her face as she settled beside him. "It's not my fault no one else wanted you," she said opening a beer for him, seeing him looking at her feigning hurt.

"Tell me how you really feel," he said rhetorically wondering how she always managed to make him fall for her cute act – even when he knew she was doing it he always fell for it.

"Alright," she said never one to resist ribbing him, especially when she knew he was upset and it'd make him smile. "You're an asshole who shoots first and asks questions later – is it any surprise it takes a Kentucky grown man to wanna take you on?"

He stared at her opened mouthed as he thought of how to respond, though he gave a short laugh when she kissed his cheek before grabbing the food. "You know you don't have to come with me," he told her taking a swig of his beer.

She dumped the fried chicken on the plates and handed him one. "I know you want me to," she said sitting back with her own food and beer.

"You just called me an asshole," he said around the food he'd shoved in his mouth, smiling at her light laughter; she was right, he did want to her come. "Don't feel like you have to," he told her seriously. As much as he didn't wanna go back without her, he didn't want her anywhere near Harlan. "If I had it my way," he said biting into a chicken wing, "you wouldn't step foot in that damn place again."

Looking up from her own wing she saw his unhappy face as he thought of a way to tell her she couldn't come with him this time. "I guess it's a good thing I'm a big girl then," she said refusing to let him tell her no. Without a word he picked up the remote and turned on the tv, changing the channel when a picture of Tommy Bucks was shown on the news – he sat silently pretending to watch what was on, and she rolled her eyes before taking her plate to the kitchen hating when he got like this. She couldn't do anything if he didn't talk, and he wouldn't talk because he was stubborn – which left her wanting to hit him upside the head and tell him to get over himself. But instead she dumped the little she'd eaten and ran the sink to wash dishes before she'd pack them, the low murmur of the tv singing her a lonely tune.

"I don't want you coming with me," he said leaning against the wall, having sat in front of the television long enough that when she came to get his plate night had fallen; she'd stood at the sink with her hands in the water staring at her face in the window wondering who she was. "You said yourself you're a big girl, go out on your own explore the world, you don't need me to take care of you anymore," he told her wishing she'd see that she was free – she didn't know Harlan like he did, she wasn't as ruined because of it.

But there were things she'd never told him, she knew exactly what he was trying to protect her from and most of it resided in one man; only she wasn't a little girl, and Raylan raised her to be tougher. "You haven't been taking care of me for six years," she told him. "I went to school, I have a job, I just finished my PhD – I don't need to be taken care of Raylan."

"Which is why you should stay, your life is here. I won't ask you to pick up everything and move with me again," he told her, remembering how hard moving to Miami had been and now she was here with a life and already preparing to leave it behind.

But she shook her head wondering exactly what he thought was going on. "I never wanted to come here," she said watching his brows knit in confusion. "I wanted to stay in Georgia in our old home, with Art and Mrs. Mullen only a few miles away. Florida was never my choice, I'm glad to leave, and getting to see them both just happens to be an added bonus." She stood waiting for his next refusal knowing it was coming, his last one would come as an explosion like it always did with him.

He shook his head before grabbing a towel and drying off her hands. "I know you got close to them, they were the family you should'a had. But going back just to see 'em again?" he asked raising a shoulder. "Harlan's two miles too close: I don't want him anywhere you, and I don't want you anywhere near that place."

She knew who he meant and that's where Raylan would need her. "What'll you do when you see Arlo, you gonna kill him maybe hit him; do you even know?" she asked seeing his eyes turn away unable to look at her. "Do you know how many bar fights I break up, how many times I have to bat my eyes and smile pretty to get the other guy to walk away? You're so angry, and mean. And I'm not sure you don't need me."

He stared down at her pretty face wondering when she'd stopped being the little girl who'd stared up at him silently begging him not to leave her – as if even at seven she'd known all hope for her was leaving with him. And that's why she couldn't go back. "I was supposed to be the one takin' care of you. I promised Helen I'd get you out, give you a better life than the one there; and I know it wasn't good at first and that I ran away from you but it got better. What kinda brother would I be if I let you go back?" he asked seeing the doubt in her eyes.

He wasn't fighting fair bringing up her mother. "I'm not asking your permission," she said making him sigh as he stepped away from her.

"Do you even remember what it was like, what _he_ was like? There's no happy ending for you, this isn't a fairytale where the long lost daughter returns and we're a family again," he said callously not caring if she was hurt so long as it worked.

"Okay," she said with a shrug, having never once thought that because she very much remembered what Harlan and its people were like – there was no happy for her there, period. But there was Raylan and Art and her mother, and that was enough for her. "I'm still not seeing where your opinion comes in," she said leaving him speechless. "I expressed interest to the research facility in Lexington and when they looked over my credentials they offered me a job and found me an apartment in a decent area in close proximity. All they needed was for me to accept which I did, an hour before you came back: you leave in two days, I leave in a week. It's happening whether you want it to or not."

"Dammit Nora Jean," he yelled, leaving him looking at her hard face staring back at him unhappy but not surprised – she was far too used to it. "You're my little sister of course I want you there, I just don't want you _there_," he said hoping to make her see, but she didn't look any closer to bending than he did. "I know you think you have to do this for me,"

"I'm not doing this for you," she said talking over him. "This isn't just for you, Raylan. It's been twenty years. I want more than her words in a letter or a voice on the phone. I wanna see her, see if I look like her, if she still smells like flowers and cigarettes," they both almost smiled at that memory, leaving Helen had been the hardest part, "see if she feels the same." She stared at him sadly, a look he hoped he'd never see again; but it was always there, hiding behind the walls she'd built within herself. "Part of this is for me, and I'm not askin' if you're okay with it."

They were left staring at each other in silence, the only words he had left would drive them apart. He could still remember that day when Helen gave him money to leave, hardly believing he was getting the chance and not daring to refuse because it wouldn't come again. But the moment he'd turned to find Nora standing behind him in a little white dress, her brown eyes big and sad as she stood holding a stuffed bunny Boyd had given her, a bruise on her shoulder from where Arlo had grabbed her too rough – he knew he couldn't leave her. But he couldn't stay. He'd turned back to Helen to see her eyes on her daughter looking so broken and defeated.

"Go to your room baby, pack your clothes in a bag; be quick now, and don't say nothing to your daddy," she told Nora before shooing her. "You take her," Helen had told him, gritting her teeth refusing to cry, knowing Nora wouldn't leave if she was crying. "You give her more than what she'd get here."

Raylan had nodded not knowing then how hard it'd be to take care of her, not knowing he'd leave her in a boarding school to go off on his own before finally coming back to her – all he knew was there was nothing for her there but pain. And so when she came back with her little suitcase packed he'd picked her up and put her in the car, and they never looked back to the woman on the porch who'd wilted to her knees as the car drove away.

But he thought of it then, and he thought of it hours later when he laid with Nora sleeping against him – she'd turned out pretty well, more accomplished than anyone in their family, possibly in all of Harlan. And yet he laid there with an arm around her caught between wanting to lock her in her apartment so she couldn't leave, and wanting to ask if she'd come out a little sooner.

"You never know, this could be a good thing," she mumbled, startling him with her being awake.

He pulled her closer sighing against her hair. "Or it could be bad," he said knowing it'd be more the latter.

She sat up and stared down at his perpetually unhappy face. "I think that all depends on who you shoot," she said watching him smile and shake his head as though she wasn't completely right.

His smile softened at the feel of her hand brushing the hair away from his forehead, almost forgetting why he'd ever considered her not coming with him. "I'll call," he promised her. "And your building is only a ten minute drive down the road, we could have lunch and dinner."

With a gentle laugh she laid back over his chest. "Were you looking at places for me to work too?" she asked feeling him smile against her temple. "Glad to know you were thinking of bringing me this whole time."

Even though she couldn't see him he shook his head not willing to admit he'd been looking at her coming with him; she'd been right, he needed her – he needed her as much as she needed him.

* * *

"Hello?" Nora answered when her phone rang, seeing the area code for Lexington and knowing it was Raylan.

"The apartment looks great," Raylan said in greeting as he walked around it. "Bit empty but your stuff will fill it out nice."

She smiled looking away from the data she'd been going over. "How's the complex?"

He stepped out on the patio and looked around. "You got a nice pool, looks like a good place in a good area – less than twenty minutes from your work."

"Well thanks for stopping by, I was almost worried it'd be shit," she admitted, having not been entirely sure without seeing it for herself.

He placed his hat on the counter as he went around all of the rooms, mapping out in his head every place a person could hide if they were breaking in – it'd only taken one person going after her for him to realize how vulnerable she was, and even then she'd ended up caught in the crossfire. "I might stay here some nights," he told her knowing she wouldn't refuse, and he could hear it in her faint laughter. "Well I gotta get back to work, just wanted to let you know I stopped by."

"Thanks for callin'" she said glad he had. "If there aren't anymore hiccups with moving my research I should be out there by the end of the week, but if we're being practical it'll be a few days more than that," she told him turning back to her files and notes. "Tell Art I say hi."

He smiled as he grabbed his hat and locked the door behind him. "I'll tell him when he's inclined to yell at me, he's nicer when you're there."

"Everyone is," she said, nearly seeing the way his tongue was stuck in his cheek as he shook his head. "I love you."

She even insulted him sweetly, and he couldn't help but smile as he climbed back in his car. "Yeah I love you too."

* * *

"Thought you might wanna know I saw Boyd," Raylan said when she picked up her phone.

She sat back on the bed in the hotel she'd paid for since all of her stuff was in a truck on its way to Kentucky. "How was he?" she asked, remembering the man with the big smile and the crazy hair who'd always come around with a little gift for her.

He knew she'd liked Boyd, he was the one Raylan would called when he stayed over a woman's place asking him to check on her and make sure Arlo hadn't thrown a fit at her. "Bat-shit," he said not needing to see her to know she wasn't happy with that. "He's in a Nazi, white supremacy bullshit group. Thought God was acting through me the other day." He heard her sigh and he regretted telling her over the phone, wishing he could wrap his arms around her as she leaned against him. "He asked about you, he was proud when I told him about your job – said he always knew you were the best thing to come from Harlan." He held the phone to his ear waiting for her to say something, to sigh or laugh unhappily. "Nora?"

She ran a hand over her face. "Don't be mad," she told him, "but do you think this was a mistake?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitating, though he paused a moment as he thought of what to say to make her smile. "But shit if I'm not glad you're coming." His frown lessened slightly at the sound of the breath she released knowing she was smiling. "Get your research in order and get the hell over here."

"Okay," she said with a small laugh, staying on the phone a little longer before they both hung up. And she sat on the bed wondering how much of a mistake she'd made asking to go back.

* * *

Art sat down in his chair with a sigh remembering he had more to say. "Raylan just a second, shut that door," he told him and waited til the other man stood in front of his desk. "I got a call this mornin' from AUSA David Vasquez, wants to talk to you about your shootin' Boyd Crowder."

Raylan's mouth tightened. "What's there to talk about, he pulled first there was a witness?"

"But you see," he said still not happy about that altercation, "ten days ago you shot a man in Miami." He watched Raylan look away scowling. "Put it like this: if you was in the first grade and you bit somebody every week, they'd start to think of you as a biter," he explained seeing Raylan nod shortly. "He said he wanted to talk to your sister about it as well."

"Nora's not even in Kentucky," Raylan said not wanting his sister to be interviewed, especially when he hadn't told her he shot Boyd.

Art's brow rose seeing he was just as protective of her as usual, and that Vasquez might be right in talking to her. "He's not askin' her about Boyd, he's gonna ask her bout you," he told Raylan knowing she knew too much about his job. "You didn't tell me she was comin'," he said not unhappy with this bit of information, he was actually quite pleased.

Raylan smiled not entirely amused, knowing Art had a soft spot for her – but he didn't want the lawyer talking to her, she knew too much about the _why _of his shootings. "I was savin' it for when you were upset with me," he said seeing Art nod knowingly. "If that's all," he said planning to call his sister to warn her not to say anything to the lawyer.

Except Art called him back to tell him Vasquez also wanted to talk to Ava, about Boyd this time, and Nora was already on the phone.

…

"Hey," Nora answered when she saw the area code, her fingers stilling over the files she'd been flipping through to see which ones she wanted to photocopy to take with her, waiting for her brother to say hello.

"Is this Nora Givens?" an unfamiliar voice asked startling her.

She paused a moment wondering who in Lexington, without an accent, had her number. "Yes it is, you're not who I thought you were."

"No this is Assistant U.S. Attorney David Vasquez," he told her staring at the photo he'd found of her. "I was actually calling to talk to you about Raylan Givens."

* * *

_I've had the idea of Raylan having a sister since I first started the show, so now years later I'm finally writing it out. And I think Raylan needs someone who knows first hand how Arlo behaves, and I think that person needs to be someone who's not a criminal or someone he sleeps with cause neither of those ever end well. So I've created Nora, who's very close to Raylan, and Art - which will be explained more next chapter why he is as fond of her as he is - as well as a lot of the people in Harlan who remember her as a sweet little girl whose daddy wasn't very nice. Also, with the way I'm structuring time jumps the horizontal line _ is more than a day, a week or more I'll probably say how much time has passed, and then the dots ... will be somewhere within the same day; just to limit confusion. _

_In all of my ideas for a Justified OC story there was always a Tim Gutterson romance element in my head; however after watching some episodes I've kinda fallen in love with David Vasquez, like hard. So this story might actually end up having Vasquez as the romantic interest. Please tell me what you guys think and if you're interested in reading more; thank you very much for taking the time to read this._


	2. standing in the sun

_Guest: thank you so much for reviewing, it really made my day to get it and I'm so glad you're liking it so far._

* * *

_1x02_

"Hey," Nora answered when she saw the area code, her fingers stilling over the files she'd been flipping through to see which ones she wanted to photocopy to take with her, waiting for her brother to say hello.

"Is this Nora Givens?" an unfamiliar voice asked startling her.

She paused a moment wondering who in Lexington, without an accent, had her number. "Yes it is, you're not who I thought you were."

"No this is Assistant U.S. Attorney David Vasquez," he told her staring at the photo he'd found of her. "I was actually calling to talk to you about Raylan Givens. Is this a good time to set up a meeting, it should only take a minute?"

Nora sat down running a hand through her hair wondering what her brother had done. "What'll we be talking about in this meeting?" she asked instead of answering.

He smiled at her question knowing she'd done this before. "I'm investigating your brother's shootings, and I think it's safe to say you know him very well so any insight you're able to give me on Raylan Givens would help tremendously in my investigation."

"That was pretty good," she told him honestly, surprised at the pleasantness of his tone. "Most people say their investigating him and make a time to meet that I should feel obligated to go to, and then speak to me as though I've done something wrong."

David sat back in his chair looking over what one man said about her in his report. "And then you're found to be difficult and uncooperative," he finished reading those two words off the file, hearing the hum of her short laugh on the other end of the line. "I have to admit, Ms. Givens, I had reservations about this interview – you've been spoken to seven, eight, times and no one had anything positive to say about you. One attorney," he looked for his name in the report, "Rosen, all but called you a bitch." His mouth twitched at her light burst of laughter.

"I abhorred that man," she said, though in truth she didn't like many lawyers; they saw, and heard, she was from rural Kentucky and turned their noses up at her, saying a word and then giving her its definition because why would she have any sort of intelligence.

That was partly what David was thinking, having spoken to his fair share of incompetent hicks and knowing that was the general view of people from Kentucky – and he couldn't imagine someone with a PhD would take kindly at being spoken down to. "I would say those feelings are mutual," he said making her laugh lightly again. "How am I doing so far?"

She liked him, it was that simple; he didn't bullshit her or give her a long answer, he told her straight exactly what he wanted – he wasn't so much a lawyer as he was a person, and a very likeable one at that. "Considering my strong aversion to lawyers I'd say you're doing pretty well," she said making him smile. "Although you haven't told me what exactly you're investigating, if it's all his shootings or just the Tommy Bucks one."

He sat holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he searched for the file he wanted. "Well actually Raylan Givens was brought to my attention after he shot Boyd Crowder," he explained before sitting back and waiting for her response, see if she'd brush it off out of devotion to her brother or admit he'd shot Boyd because she was an upstanding citizen or if she may even try to lie – he honestly didn't know, cause based on the files she'd been a witness to a third of her brother's shootings, and sometimes a hostage resulting in her brother firing his weapon. "Ms. Givens?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"Are you shittin' me?"

"Um, no Ms. Givens," he said startled by not only the question but the amount of anger in her tone. "Your brother shot Boyd Crowder in his sister-in-law's home last night, I'm assuming by your response you had no knowledge of the event."

David looked to his computer to see the essay he'd found of hers about growing organs out of stem cells, staring at the picture that'd come with it – hardly believing the woman in the photo whose work was too advanced for him to understand had come from Harlan Kentucky – waiting for her to move past her initial surprise and say something. "He really shot Boyd?" she asked him. "Are you sure it wasn't Arlo Givens, I'd have thought he'd be the first person my brother shot?"

His brow rose at that. "Does your brother make a habit of shooting people he doesn't like?" he asked grabbing a pen in case she actually said yes.

"He makes a habit of shootin' people about to shoot him," was her irritable response making him lower the pen. "And before you can ask, yes, our father would take a shot at Raylan if he was so inclined." She growled a sigh before cursing her brother wondering what'd happened to make Boyd pull a gun so that her brother shot him. "One week, one damn week and he's already- Mother f-" she broke off sighing deeply, a hand rubbing her brow before she realized who she'd been speaking to. "I'm sorry," she said as a means of excusing herself. "How's Boyd?"

David sat holding the phone surprised and amused by her outburst. "He's recovering in the detention center. I would've assured you he was alive but you seemed to already know that. Did you know your brother wouldn't mean to kill him?"

Nora took a moment to think before answering. "I'm not sure I should answer that," she said hearing him hum in agreement.

"Possibly not, at least not over the phone," he said honestly, knowing it'd do him better in the long run in talking to her. "Which begs the question of when you'd be available to set up an interview? I understand that you're a very busy woman with your clinical trial; growing a trachea out of stem cells, that's very impressive," he told her truthfully. He'd thought he'd gotten the wrong Nora Givens when he first looked her up, it wasn't until he found the picture and saw the resemblance between her and her brother that he realized this was the woman he was looking for.

She sat a moment smiling at the complement. "You googled me," she said knowing the only way he'd know more than her name, birthday, phone number, and current address was if he'd looked her up. And she laughed when he admitted he had. "Well I haven't actually left Florida yet," she told him. "I was supposed to leave yesterday but one of the mice in a trial I'm leaving behind had a problem so I'm staying til we figure out what went wrong. At the moment I'm scheduled to leave in three days but I'm not holdin' my breath. So I guess what I'm sayin' is I don't really know when I'm coming up, I hope within the week since my brother's a damn idiot when I'm not there."

The corner of his mouth curled as he looked at his schedule seeing he wouldn't have time to meet with her until three days anyway. "Why don't I leave my number with you and regardless of whether you're coming in three days we'll figure it out then," he offered with a shrug.

"That's as good a plan as I'm capable of making," she said agreeing as she grabbed a pen to write down his number.

He waited until she gave a small 'k' before sitting back to ask her a question he knew she'd more than likely not answer. "Ms. Givens, there was a witness to your brother shooting Boyd Crowder, an Ava Crowder; the only reason I'm bringing this is up is because she's the only witness and your brother also has to give his testimony on another matter and it's very important that,"

"Let me stop you there, Mr. Vasquez," she said silencing him as he waited for her incooperation. "Is she young and pretty?" she asked, the only two things she actually needed to know, and she sighed heavily when he answered yes. For several moments she sat in silence staring at the ceiling knowing she shouldn't say anything, not a single word about her brother or his inability to pass up a pretty woman. "Bring it up again when I call you back," she told him unhappily.

David sat curious as to what she meant, seeing she wasn't being entirely difficult. "Why then?" he asked, thinking he might actually enjoy talking to her.

She smiled ruefully. "I might actually answer you," she said hearing him chuckle. "I'll talk to you in two and a half days, Mr. Vasquez," she told him.

"I look forward to it, Ms Givens," he said before bidding her a good day.

The moment she heard the click of the line going dead she hung up and called her brother. Raylan looked down at his phone and turned back to Tim and Rachel who were briefing him on their interview with the escaped prisoner. "It's my sister, you mind if I answer?" he asked the two; Rachel looked over at Tim who only shrugged, neither knowing of a sister. "Hey Nora you're on speaker, I'm with Rachel and Tim. I work with 'em, you'll see them when you get here."

"Hello Rachel, hello Tim," she greeted, hearing them both say hi. "I don't have much time to talk, I actually just spent about ten minutes speakin' with David Vasquez."

Raylan closed his eyes in defeat, having hoped to catch her before that conversation happened. "That would be why my call went to voicemail," he said hoping that hadn't been the case.

If he'd seen the hard look on her face he might not've tried to lighten her very soured mood. "Mmhmm," she hummed dropping a file on the desk as she leaned against it. "You see this, this is why I have to come with you because when I'm not there you do stupid shit like shoot Boyd Crowder."

He rolled his eyes at Tim's smile. "Well to be fair I do stupid shit when you're here too, so," he said trailing off knowing he wasn't doing himself any favors.

"Yeah well maybe that says something about you," she grumbled, looking out of the office she was in to see her former boss motioning her to rap up the phone call.

"Now hold on a minute," Raylan said taking her off of speaker and holding his phone to his ear, "did you just call me an idiot?" he demanded. Tim and Rachel sat looking at Raylan standing with a hand on his hip waiting unhappily for his sister's response. "No, the boot does not fit Nora Jean."

"Don't you Nora Jean me," she said just as irritably. "I'm not the one who shot our only friend in Harlan. Look Raylan," she said hearing him scoff and knowing he'd about to speak, "I really do have to go, I just called to tell you David Vasquez got to me first. And to say I hate you."

Raylan smiled. "No you don't," he told her hearing her sigh.

She shook her head as she gathered the notes she'd need. "No, I don't," she admitted. "Oh he mentioned something I needed to ask you about: Ava Crowder, young, pretty, blonde. Should he be concerned, because in full honesty my answer is a resounding yes cause I know you."

He sighed knowing where this was going. "Nora," he said trying to get a word in, hoping to convince her of his side of the things.

"No," she said refusing. "You get one chance to convince me Ava's not a slut and you can actually keep it in your pants for once, or when David Vasquez asks me if he should be concerned I'll tell him yes. And I'm not even gonna tell you whether I believe you or not, I'm just gonna let you find out later if it comes up in his investigation on you."

And there it was, her lashing out at him – one of the reasons he hadn't called her last night. "I understand you liked Boyd but he's not the same as,"

"He looked after me when you weren't there," she said interrupting him, "which was a lot more than you like to admit." She hadn't realized how angry she was until she'd spit her words venomously at him, and she was left sighing unhappy with the whole situation. "I really do have to go," she said holding up a finger to her boss, hearing Raylan's ground out yeah. "Raylan," she said before releasing a breath as her shoulders slumped, "you know I don't hate you, right?"

And just like that his anger was gone, he could very clearly see the look on her face – it was like she was seven again as she looked up at him from beside him in the car asking if everything was gonna be okay. "I know," he told her softly, "I love you too."

"So is this you're answer then?" she asked him hearing from his lack of response he'd probably end up sleeping with Ava. "I guess I'll talk to you later. Tell your coworkers I look forward to meeting them."

His face softened only slightly as he nodded. "I'll tell them. Talk to you later." He put his phone back in his pocket and looked back to the two still sitting staring at him. "She says she looks forward to meeting you both," he told them taking his seat once more.

Tim sat resting his hand on his chin. "She older than you?"

Raylan shook his head with a sigh. "You got about a year on her, can we get back to the case now?" he asked seeing them both nod as they looked to their notes.

* * *

David stood outside of his office talking to a witness when his phone rang. "Mrs. Hawkins," he said when she walked past him. "Could you answer that and tell the person to leave their number and I'll get back to them," he asked her.

"Sure, no problem," Winona agreed before turning to his office.

Though a second later David called her back, remembering what day it was. "Unless it's Nora Givens, I'd really like to talk to her," he said before turning back to his informant and their lawyer.

Winona entered his office wondering what David wanted to talk to Nora about. "U.S. Attorney's office," Winona greeted.

"I was lookin' to speak to David Vasquez if he was available," a woman said after hesitating at the familiar voice that'd answered the phone.

Winona brushed her hair back as she leaned a hip against the desk. "He's meeting with someone now, but if you have a few minutes he'll get to you; said he'd like to talk to you Nora," she told her.

She paused a moment surprised before responding. "I thought that sounded like you, Winona."

"It's certainly been a while," Winona said nodding to David who'd turned back to see if it was the call he'd been expecting.

He turned back to the two sitting across from him. "I'm afraid I have to take this, it shouldn't be more than a few minutes," he told them before going to his office. Winona moved out of David's way as he walked around his desk and took the phone. "Ms. Givens, how's your mouse?" he asked in greeting, nodding to Winona when she shut the door.

"Dead," Nora answered just as pleasantly as he'd greeted her, "but we figured out what went wrong, now I getta stay til we figure out how to fix it which I don't actually know how long that'll take. It's why I was callin; I now have no idea when I'm gonna come."

He nearly smiled as he remembered how strangely amusing she was. "I'm sorry about your mouse, and as for our meeting that works out well with my schedule; I wouldn't have been available to meet with you this week," he explained. "I also have yet to meet with your brother, and I'd very much like to talk to you before I speak with him."

"I bet you would," she mumbled in agreement. "I'll be there in a minute," she told her boss softly. "Sorry about that, I'm at the hospital to watch a boy get my trachea: I'm quite excited."

His brows rose in surprise. "You're quite an impressive woman, Ms. Givens," he said smiling at her sweet thank you. "I bet it's an amazing feeling knowing you're saving his life."

Her mouth curled sardonically. "He's a fourteen year old asshole, I can't stand him - but shit if it doesn't make me look good," she said looking into the O.R. to see that the trachea was being handled carefully.

David laughed liking her more than he should, especially when he'd be asking her questions about the shootings she was a witness for - he didn't see the interview ending on a good note. "Tell me if this works for you: you call if there's any change between now and next week, and if I don't hear from you then I'll call you and see where we're at," he said leaving it open for her response.

"That sounds like a plan. Hey," she yelled knocking on the glass, "I said carefully remove it from the mold, do not make me come in there," she warned still holding the phone to her ear as she stared at the surgeons removing the trachea from the mold she'd made.

"Ms. Givens?"

With an unhappy sigh she turned from the room knowing the trachea was probably in good hands, even if they weren't her own, and continuing to watch them would only further frustrate her until it was finally being transplanted into the patient – she honestly hated surgeons, they were pompous and self righteous especially to those they thought of as less than themselves. "Sorry Mr. Vasquez, I just spent a lot of time on this; seeing someone else handling it makes me nervous."

He nodding understanding, knowing she'd spent quite a number of hours on it, going days without sleeping. "It's fine, I understand," he told her even though he needed to go. "Though about your brother and Ava Crowder," he said leaving the end open for her to finish, which she did with a pitiful groan making him smile. "So there is cause for concern," he said having hoped there wouldn't be.

Her loyalty was to her brother and he wasn't an idiot, all the time; so she shouldn't say anything, not a single word on the matter. She should say she had to go without answering, she had the perfect excuse. "Raylan's my brother, Mr. Vasquez," she told him, what he thought she'd say the first time he mentioned it – but not even Raylan was fully away of the moral compass Art Mullen had fine tuned for ten years. And so she sighed. "I assume you're thinking of a potential lawsuit," she said not needing his affirmation to know it was true. "If there is one,"

"You believe your brother might compromise both the witness to his shooting and his own testimony?" he asked not quite sure if he could believe she was actually answering him.

She hesitated a moment, opening her mouth to speak several times before she was able to actually make her voice come. "I'm not answering you, Mr. Vasquez; Raylan's my brother," she told him, nearly hearing him thinking in the deepness of his silence. "If there's a lawsuit give me a call, there's a very large possibility Boyd might drop it when he sees me."

David thought a moment on what she said, seeing she was answering him without actually giving him an answer. "You really think Boyd would do that?" he asked, wondering if it might be that easy.

She smiled as she thought of the Crowders. "He looked after me for a few years, him and his daddy – I think there's a strong possibility they'd both blow off any meeting their lawyer arranged, ending the lawsuit there. I mean what would you have to lose, right?"

"I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Givens," he said honestly; she wasn't at all what he'd preconceived her to be – she was far more pleasant than the records indicated, or at least cooperative because even when she didn't want to answer she couldn't help but fall somewhere on the spectrum of truth.

"Yeah?" she asked with a large smile. "If you're looking at all my brother's shootings I'm sure you can't wait," she said hearing his soft chuckle. "Thank god, they're carrying it to the O.R," he heard her mutter. "I suppose I should go, or at least let you go I'm sure you're busy."

"That I am," he said preparing to go back out to his witness. "I'll most likely be calling you in a week, is that safe to assume?"

She exchanged a glare with one of the surgeon's who'd been preparing the trachea. "Yeah, that'll probably end up being the case," she answered. "Are you kiddin' me? Jesus Christ, this ain't a football you're running to the end zone, be careful," she exclaimed. "I mean seriously, of all the times to trip – you better be glad you caught yourself," she grumbled, swearing at the man under her breath before holding the phone to her ear. "I'll talk to you later, Mr. Vasquez," she said barely giving him time to bid her a good day before she hung up, leaving him sitting with a half smile on his face shaking his head at the ambitious, strong-willed woman; thinking that under different circumstances they might've been friends, but half the time he didn't think Raylan Givens was as justified as he liked to believe, and there was at least one case file he had a very strong feeling she'd been the one to pull the trigger – he didn't see them ending the interview on good terms.


	3. bottom of your heart

_Guest: thank you I'm glad you like Raylan and Nora's banter, their relationship is a big part of the story - and while they don't always get along and sometimes they're quite mean to each other, they do really love one another. And I can't wait to get to Boyd cause he hasn't seen her in 20 years and she really did like him. I'm very glad to hear you're interested in what I'll do with her and Vasquez, I can't wait for them to finally meet - there will be sparks, and most of them won't be romantic, they might butt heads a bit at first._

* * *

_1x05_

Nora had just turned off the lamp beside the bed and lain back to sleep when her phone rang, and with a small groan she flipped the lamp back on and grabbed her cell. "You've got the worst timing," she grumbled in answer. She could hear his small smile as he sat outside of his own hotel room a thousand miles away.

"Hello to you too, Nora," Raylan answered, a crooked smile on his face at the sound of her tired voice – he'd almost called several times that week but something would happen at work that stole the thought of her away, or he was with Ava and he certainly didn't think of Nora then, or he just didn't wanna tell her about Arlo. "How've you been?"

With a sigh she threw the covers away and moved to sit on the couch, knowing from his voice he was unhappy and knowing from his unhappiness this wouldn't be a short call. "You really wanna know or you usin' this as a segue?" she asked getting to the point instead of pandering.

He nodded having figured she'd see through his question. "I guess it leads to two things; first of which is when the hell are you coming?"

She smiled gently running a hand through her hair. "Well, we figured out the mouse contracted a disease which resulted in death. Problem we're dealing with now is seeing if the drug makes any other mice more susceptible to viruses of any kind," she explained sighing through her words – she'd barely gotten any sleep the night before as she looked through the blood work from the other mice for any signs that one of them was sick, which she'd spent the day running more tests to see if the problem was from the drug. "At this point only five mice have exhibited problems and we're working to see whether it's the drug or if they had preexisting conditions that were intensified or, I don't even know," she mumbled exhausted.

These were the times he wished he'd paid more attention to her studying, or made an effort to expand his knowledge in her field – most of the time she simplified it for him on her own, but when she was tired or excited or irritated all her scientific jargon spilled out of her mouth and flew over his head. "Which means what exactly?"

Nora gave a small laugh, sounding more a release of breath, realizing she'd lost him. "It's like the warning label on medicines that says if you have, say, a heart condition of some sort or an allergy then ask your doctor – which usually means don't take it. The problem is if a mouse has an allergy or any other medical condition, they can't tell us before we give them the drug which leaves us where we are now looking for the problem which may or may not be the drug itself. But only 10% of the mice have exhibited any problems making me lean more toward preexisting medical conditions. Was that less confusing?" she asked not knowing, she understood both ways her brother however, had a limited knowledge of Biology.

"I guess," he said with a shrug. "I don't see why they need you to stay, though. Didn't they hire that guy to replace you, can't he take over?"

She sighed again wishing it were that easy. "In hindsight, probably," she answered. "But I've spent two years working with this drug gettin' it to where it's at now, recording the effects it's had and what I needed to alter, as well as exactly how the mice respond and why. So I guess I'm an expert, or as close as there is to one," she mumbled the last part kind of wishing to just leave it to the guy replacing her and yet she'd spent so much of her time on it. "It'd be easier if the patent had my name in it, then I might've convinced my boss to let me take it with me – giving him and the facility most of the credit if a paper was ever written."

He sat thinking on her words trying to understand them, hearing from her voice she wasn't happy. "So even though they gave you what they thought was a failed trial, which you spent two year making it work, they're not gonna let you have it?" he asked not understanding why she wasn't fuming.

"Yup," she answered, bitterness laced in her tone.

Raylan sat up as a thought came to him. "So they're makin' you stay to fix the problem and then they're giving it to the new guy to make sure there's no other problems and if everything's fine they'll just what, forget all of your work?" he asked nearing fury at the thought of it.

The curling of her mouth was sardonic and angry. "Oh I'm sure my name'll show up once somewhere in the paper saying I assisted in the research. Assisted," she muttered sounding disgusted.

There wasn't anything he could do, not much she could do either – they both knew it, and yet he was stuck on the unfairness of it. "You haven't been happy the whole time, have you?" he asked wondering if he'd missed her silent rage beneath the pleasantness of her voice.

"No," she said simply not wanting to dwell on it; it was what it was and there wasn't much to be done about it. That's how she tried to look at it and how she tried to behave toward the man replacing her, but more often than not she knew she was a bitch – he was almost afraid of her she'd bitten his head off so bad one day. And a sliver of guilt pierced her conscious at how smug she felt watching him titter around trying not to upset her. "And Chief Warner keeps reminding me that I still have my stem cell research which is very promising. Asshole," she said through clenched teeth, knowing it wasn't completely his fault, but she was still angry.

He rubbed his brow trying to understand what all that meant, and she was lost in her unhappy thoughts that he sat for a few moments in silence as he processed it. "Could he try to take it from you?" he asked unwilling to allow it whether he was legally able or not; it's what she'd gone to school for, what she'd been hired for and what she was now going to Lexington to continue doing.

She smiled, not quite happy but not exactly unhappy. "There's no patent on organs or cells taken from person or animal to grow the organ, or even on the mold I made as a scaffold for the trachea – he can't actually claim anything in my research except that I worked in his facility. So no, he can't take it. But you can bet your ass if he was able to he would," she said, part of the reason she was so upset with the man.

"Yeah cause you're the shit," Raylan said making her laugh lightly as he'd hoped it would. "But seriously, Nora, the work you've been doin' is great and the chief here is very excited for you to get started," he told her, hoping to appease the anger he hadn't realized had been suffocating her.

The corner of her mouth curled as she rested her chin on her hand. "Did you talk to Dr. Wells?" she asked him playing coy.

He couldn't help the smile that spread on his mouth. "I might've stopped by to see what you'd be doing when you got here, if I could help out," he told her.

Her amusement hummed deep in her throat. "You saw Dr. Wells' first name was Agatha," she said with a laugh. "Did you see she was Art's age?"

With a shake of his head he couldn't help but laugh with her. "I did when I met her," he answered.

She sat for a moment enjoying the lightness of their conversation, they didn't happen often – and that was why she knew the second reason he'd called was something she wouldn't like. "So what's the second thing?" she asked hearing him sigh.

He honestly didn't want to tell her, she was already unhappy. "We could just sit quietly," he offered not needing to see her face to know she was shaking her head. "Or we talk about Arlo."

"You saw him?" she asked without missing a beat, wondering if he wouldn't've told her if she hadn't asked. "How'd that go."

With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the stars wishing she were there already, that he was sitting next to her because he knew she'd sit against him with her head on his shoulder and her hands around his arm – because he always found comfort in feeling her warm beside him even when everything was wrong. "It went," he answered with a shrug. He wouldn't tell her everything, maybe nothing – Arlo wasn't why she was coming back, but Helen wasn't the mother Nora remembered. Helen hadn't been a mother in 20 years. "He hasn't changed, he's not going to," he said rougher than he'd meant.

She was quiet for several moments before she said anything, before she even knew what to say – which the answer was simple, there wasn't anything. "What about Helen?" she asked knowing he was trying to protect her from something, and since she didn't care much for her father it left her mother.

"I don't know, Nora," he admitted quietly. He couldn't tell her he thought Helen had helped Arlo frame Stan Perkins, whether or not he deserved to go to prison. "Her with Arlo," he broke off clenching his teeth, his hand balled in a fist fighting to give his sister something. "She's proud of you," he told her. "She's real proud, and she's lookin' forward to you coming. But I can't,"

"I know," she said cutting him off, hearing in his voice he was beyond rage. "It shouldn't be more than a week," she offered hearing the breath of his unwilling smile.

He nodded glad to hear that at least. "You sure this time?" he asked her, having prepared three times to see her only for her to be kept away.

She looked at the suitcase still sitting on the floor of the hotel room, her notebook and data scattered on the table. "Yeah, I called Dr. Wells and asked if she could convince Warner that they couldn't wait any longer."

With a groan he stood and opened the door, seeing Ava laid out on the bed. "That's good to hear," he said leaning against the doorway. He paused a moment, the words straining on his tongue. "I love you, Nora Jean."

"I love you too," she said in return, sitting with the phone to her ear a good three minutes listening to his breathing knowing he'd stay on however long it took her to either fall asleep or hang up – he'd done it several times when they'd first left Harlan and he'd left her in a boarding school; she'd always fell asleep, not willing to let him go. "Night Raylan," she said softly before hanging up. Even then she didn't go back to bed, she sat staring at the wall wondering what they'd gotten into by going back; and an old song her momma used to sing crept into her mind turned her already morose mood into one of nostalgia and melancholy.

_And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone, you will never leave Harlan alive_

* * *

_1x06_

"Must be frustratin'," Raylan told the short Hispanic man standing opposite his desk, hearing his confused 'hmm?' "All that work on Carnes for nothing," he told him shuffling through the papers on his desk.

The man turned back to the briefing room they'd just been in talking over Owen Carnes' 'suicide'. "No, I'm not on the Carnes case," he said amused by the misunderstanding, knowing the startled look that was about to register in the marshal's eyes. "David Vasquez," he said holding his hand out, "I'm looking in to _your_ shootings." And there it was, the surprised pause and David could nearly hear Raylan thinking the word 'shit' as he shook his hand. "I'd really like to talk to you, obvious not today."

Raylan followed the man's gaze to the officers still in the briefing room with Art. A thought came to him when he saw someone talking on a cell phone and he looked down the pocket of his shirt and pulled out his own before holding it to his ear; 'last call for flight 4225 going to Charlotte,' he heard faintly in his ear. "Shit, Nora you're still there?" he asked – they'd been talking before he'd gone in for the briefing, she'd told him to just leave his phone on and she'd hang up when she boarded or got bored; something he wasn't allowed to do, but he'd always told her more than he was allowed.

"I'm sitting in an airport, what else I gotta do?" she answered. "By the way your theory that the gun's never found in the hand is wrong; there's a roughly 25% chance you could find it in a person's hand after shootin' themself; especially if they were sitting. Cause the muscles,"

"Okay you know what," Raylan said cutting her off, looking up at the U.S. Attorney to see his brows raised – he was seeing first hand rules didn't apply to the siblings, as they saw it. "You can lecture me all about my lack of knowing the human body when you get here, until then I don't wanna hear it," he told her.

David shook his head with a shrug when Raylan asked if he minded, and David certainly didn't – he only wished he could hear what Nora Givens was saying to make him smile.

He'd looked through both their records trying to frame an idea of what kind of siblings they were; though it only left him with several questions about her. He figured she would've been seven or eight when they left Kentucky – there was no signing custody to Raylan which meant their parents either agreed or didn't care – and then he'd gone into the Marines; that's where David first paused. He knew Raylan Givens had a sister, knew she'd been a child when they left, and yet there'd been nothing to indicate she was with Raylan while he was in service – that's when David had first looked into Nora finding the record of a boarding school in Georgia. Raylan hadn't found his way back to his sister until she was about twelve; which didn't make sense because she'd switched to public school before Raylan came back, which meant someone had been taking care of her. And then Raylan, after taking various jobs, came back to Georgia and settled down working at Glynco, taking his sister back, and years later moved to Florida. What David didn't know was why she'd gone with Raylan when she'd been in the middle of a semester in college - or why she was coming with him now when she had a job with a lab and enough funding for her research. No matter what way David looked at it, Nora Givens didn't make sense to him. Raylan made sense, from all accounts on him he was bitter and angry, given Harlan's reputation and who his father was it made sense. But Nora Givens, she was smart and charming and obviously caring if she'd forgiven her brother, a bit quick tempered at least with her science, potentially disconnected from sympathy and emotions considering she called a troubled kid with no trachea an asshole, but her research was primarily on how to better save lives; he didn't know how the possibly abused young girl had turned into the very accomplished woman, but he had a feeling it had a lot to do with who took her care of her while her brother was gone.

"So what's David Vasquez look like?" Nora asked Raylan, having been very curious of that detail over the weeks.

Raylan smiled almost happily. "You were dead wrong," he told her looking at the man in question, who was lost in thought as he stood with his brows furrowed. "He's more my age than Art's, maybe younger."

"Huh," she said trying to think of what his voice sounded like – she could've sworn he would've been older. "Is he handsome?" she asked.

He looked at the man briefly. "I don't know," he mumbled, "I guess," he said uncomfortably, glad the other man had no idea what was being said – though David did know he was being spoken of.

Nora nodded realizing she'd been completely wrong. "Well apparently I'm only good at judging people when I see 'em."

"You are a good judge of character," he told her, she always knew when she didn't like someone – which meant Raylan didn't like them either. "I should probably go," he said looking to Vasquez, not knowing how long the man would wait.

David held up a hand and stepped forward. "Actually would you mind if I spoke to her?" he asked seeing once more surprise on Raylan's face.

"Um, okay," he said slowly. "Hang on," he told his sister before handing the phone to the other man – his brows knitting deeply as he watched the attorney smile as he held the phone.

"Ms. Givens, I was gonna call you as soon as I finished talking to your brother," David greeted.

Nora smiled at his voice having wondered if he'd wanna talk to her. "Well it's good you caught me now I'm gonna board soon. Oh you probably don't know, I'm actually leaving this time – my bag's on the plane and everything."

He stood holding the phone to his ear with one hand and the other in his pocket. "That's good to hear, I was starting to think you were avoiding talking to me," he said hearing her soft chuckle amid the talking around her. "Do you have an idea of when you'd be available to come in?"

She thought a moment of what she'd talked to Dr. Wells about. "Well tomorrow I'm gonna settle in and unpack, then the next day I'm going in to work and I'll get off at six and that goes til Saturday – so I guess tomorrow or well," she paused as a thought came to her, "that may not be true. What's today, Monday?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered.

"Wednesday morning I'm going in at about ten, and I was plannin' to head up your way to see Art anyway, so I could meet with you before then if you have the time," she said glad to have talked herself into having a time to give him, which left any refusals based upon his schedule instead of hers.

He stood going through what he had scheduled in his mind, but regardless if he had another meeting he'd have to move it – there were two days she had any time to see him and he didn't work weekends either. "If Chief Deputy Mullen wouldn't mind us using that room," he said to Raylan tilting his head to the briefing room.

"If she's apart of it he'll say yes," Raylan answered; he didn't like the way Vasquez spoke to his sister, it was too easy, too familiar – he knew his sister was easy to get along with, at least in the beginning and certainly when she was trying for good behavior, but she seemed to genuinely like the man she'd spoken to almost five times now and it seemed he felt the same.

David nodded. "If you're coming to the Marshal's office we can have the interview here, I could even meet with your brother the same day," he said glad to finally have a plan. He wanted to talk to her before Raylan, get an idea from her who her brother was and if she might be of any help to the few shootings she witnessed; but he had a strong feeling even if her brother broke the law she'd stand by him, and vice versa.

"Well alright, Wednesday morning it is," she said thinking it was about time they'd worked it out – not that she'd entirely minded speaking to him, he was almost pleasant to talk to. She stood when her flight number was called. "I'm actually about to board, could you tell Raylan I'll call him when I land?"

"Will do, Ms. Givens," he told her. "Have a safe flight," he said smiling at her sweet thank you before he hung up and handed the phone back to Raylan. "She says she'll call when she lands," he told him, seeing Raylan wasn't happy. "It seems I'll be seeing you Wednesday, you free to do it then?" David asked him.

Raylan nodded not wanting anything to do with the man standing opposite him, especially now when he saw why his sister liked him – he was funny, charming even. "Works for me," he answered ready to have it all done with and put behind him.

"Good," David said with a nod. "I'll call you, set something up."

Raylan watched the Attorney as he left, something not settling well him – something he couldn't place. "Buck's pulled first," he said in a lame means of defense.

David smiled, not believing that was entirely how it played out – he couldn't blame him if he coaxed Bucks into pulling first, but it didn't make it justified. "Yeah I read that too."

* * *

_That was the end of episode 6, I realized I should probably have some indicator as to where I am in the series because she won't be relevant in every episode and like in this chapter I started in the 5th episode and ended in episode 6 - which is kind of confusing so I went back and marked what episode I was in for my scenes. Also, the past chapter was Nora getting a feel for David as they spoke and why she likes him - I mean he's a very likeable person. This chapter I spent some time showing why he is fascinated in her, and also shed some light on her life before the first episode. Next chapter is the interview and I'm quite excited to get to it. I'm sorry how long this chapter took to get out, I'm on vacation and time to write is very sparse so I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading._


End file.
